(Deming) – The Deming Aerostat balloon is now under the control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Bill Brooks said Homeland Security assumed control of the Aerostat system from the Air Force earlier this summer and will manage and maintain it for the foreseeable future.
The Aerostat system has been in use since the 1980s. It uses giant tethered balloons to scan the border area with radar to detect low-flying aircraft carrying drugs or other contraband into the United States. There are Aerostat sites southwest of Deming as well as in Yuma and Fort Huachuca, Arizona… Marfa, Eagle Pass and Rio Grande City, Texas… Cudjoe Key, Florida… and Lajas, Puerto Rico.
Speculation had been swirling around the internet and social media after the first of the year that the government would be shutting down the TARS – or Tethered Aerostat Radar System – program by the end of the fiscal year. Reportedly, employees were notified in February that the aerostat system would cease as of March 15th. Budget cuts were blamed for the shutdown. But after the March 15th deadline passed and the tethered balloon continued to float above southern Luna County, residents were unsure of its future.
The Aerostat system has been in use since the 1980s. It uses giant tethered balloons to scan the border area with radar to detect low-flying aircraft carrying drugs or other contraband into the United States. There are Aerostat sites southwest of Deming as well as in Yuma and Fort Huachuca, Arizona… Marfa, Eagle Pass and Rio Grande City, Texas… Cudjoe Key, Florida… and Lajas, Puerto Rico.
Speculation had been swirling around the internet and social media after the first of the year that the government would be shutting down the TARS – or Tethered Aerostat Radar System – program by the end of the fiscal year. Reportedly, employees were notified in February that the aerostat system would cease as of March 15th. Budget cuts were blamed for the shutdown. But after the March 15th deadline passed and the tethered balloon continued to float above southern Luna County, residents were unsure of its future.
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